Opera for Android is getting a built-in cryptocurrency wallet

Opera for Android has become the first mainstream browser with its own cryptocurrency wallet. The new browser is currently in private beta testing. The signup page is down at the time of writing, but once it's back online you should be able to join the test group and take it for a spin.

Opera's built-in wallet means you'll no longer need to use a third-party extension or decentralized app (dapp) browser to send and receive cryptocurrency, interact with dapps, and make secure payments to online stores using Coinbase Commerce.

Opera for Android is launching with support for Ethereum due to its popularity and huge community of dapp developers, but in an announcement, product manager Charles Hamel said the Opera team hopes to extend support to more cryptocurrencies and networks in the future.

"Although the current selection of merchants accepting cryptocurrencies is very limited, we think cryptocurrency payments will become more popular in the near future, as crypto wallets become easier to use and understand," he added.

Built-in bonuses

You could theoretically use a dapp browser for all your mobile browsing, but the experience would be pretty poor. Such browsers typically rely on a WebView component, which severely limits how much you can interact with pages. You can read text, see images, and that's about it.

Opera is a fully-featured Chromium-based browser first and foremost, making it a realistic choice for your primary browser. It uses Android's own security features to sign transactions, so you don't have to learn new PINs or passwords.

The browser also has a 'Dapp Explorer' feature to help you discover new dapps curated by Opera, and supports tokens and collectibles such as CryptoKitties.